Election 2024 . Not that one, though the Trump victory is sure to influence some of what we are threatened and promised. presumably we'll have a date soon.

[DeanElderberry]

Any wise thoughts?

Roderic hopeless on the debate tonight.. Poor Peadar not getting a chance to speak & Mary Lou shows up with no manifesto!

I haven't watched it yet.

RTE are so biased, they don't even try to hide it.

I never watch debates - they're too cringy. Our politicians aren't trained to debate -:they just snipe and bitch at each other, constantly talk over each other and it's embarrassing to watch. So it seems I was right not to watch!!

Last nights was so badly moderated. FF, FG & SF repeatedly called upon the other leaders then were talked over when it was their chance, Michael Collins & Peadar Toibín were repeatedly talked over by Roderic O Gorman & Simon Harris.
Simon Harris was awful last night. Tried to deny any involvement of the Childrens Hospital & bike shed. Was overly defensive & very passive aggressive. FF, FG & Roderic all making huge promises, they are in power right now, what was stopping them over the past four years.

As @Trumped writes -
"FF, FG & Roderic all making huge promises, they are in power right now, what was stopping them over the past four years ?"
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I'm long enough in the tooth now to know that politicians promise the world before an election.
Post elections though is a different reality.

MM and SH were like 2 schoolyard bullies sneering at the poorer children with no lunch. They were an embarrassment to watch.
SH trying to distance himself from the Children's hospital and the bike shed was just a complete insult to the intelligence of the entire population.
I thought Peadar Toibin and Richard Boyd Barrett performed well, even though I hope PBP don't win any seats.
The SD deputy leader was completely out of his depth.
Mary Lou seemed a bit nervous. Ivana just irritates me so I can't really comment but her hope for a left wing alliance will send many voting for the FG/FG party out of fear of the alternative.
The others didn't make much of an impression.

This is exactly what I think! I just can't bear it, my toes curl!!

They should be forced to watch snippets from their previous election debates and the promises they made, and answer to their lies and ineptitude - but that would be even more cringeworthy.

Yes the Social Democrats guy looked petried & was a very poor contributor.
Michael Collins got no airtime & was constantly spoken over..
Richard Boyd Barrett in fairness performed strongly.
Peadar Toibín was excellent for Aontú.
Michael Martins smug, patronising expression throughout really bugged me.
Ivana Bacic is in cukooland with all her grand plans
Shame on Mary Lou for turning up with no Sinn Féin manifesto, she was very poor also, fixated on bickering.
I'm disappointed in Simon Harris, much preferred him to Varadkar but he is a poor debator, was much too passive aggressive & snide last night. Refused to let Fine Gael or himself be accountable for all their wrong doings.
The moderator was also extremely poor, had no grip over the debate. Vincent Brown used be excellent in these debates.

There is no accountability in Ireland.
It drives me bonkers.
If someone in any kind of public service has overseen something disastrous or near disastrous, if you look crooked at them ie call them to account, they will often sue.

After last night's debate I hope people will consider how they vote more carefully.. Roderic O Gorman was brutal.
A member of the green party refused to let 300 apartments be built near him as they would be looking into his kitchen window. However the greens are pledging thousands of new homes. Hypocrites. And they are also waiving planning permission rights for IPAS centres...however it's a different story when it's on their doorstep..

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/elections-2024/not-overlooking-my-kitchen-green-party-housing-td-objected-to-330-new-homes-on-land-next-door-to-him/a386424897.html

Not a good look for Roderic O Gorman & the Green Party. Absolute hypocrites.

The Greens have fecked up the roads near me. It takes a lot longer to get anywhere. Slow or stopped traffic spewing out fumes into the atmosphere.
Lots of rarely used bicycle lanes.

I have voted Green before but not now.

The main objection to the proposed development, as far as I can see from reading several sources, was not about 'seeing into kitchens' but the construction of six apartment blocks of up to 5 stories high.

It was mostly about density and height, and particularly about the fact that the area is covered by a local development plan, which doesn't allow for that kind of development.
And guess what? The High Court agreed, and overthrew the planning permission. So you could say that Mr Duffy and the other objectors were vindicated.

Some people seem to think that all objections to housing developments are NIMBYism, instead of looking at them case-by-case. Some plans are great; some are atrocious and would do more harm than good, and should be objected to. Otherwise it's just the big developers steamrollering over everything and everybody, building what they want wherever they want to, regardless of the kind of housing people actually need.

I suppose it could just be that everything that Roderic O'Gorman and any member of the Green Party is going to be trashed, regardless. Surely not..

@MarieDeGournay it’s naieve in the extreme to think development plans matter. It’s who you know when it comes to objections. The development plan for my local area showed a green space was to be developed on a spot of wasteland as there was no green space centrally where I live and also as some flood mitigation had been put into place from the main road into this area. Of course then planning permission went up for over 50 houses/apartments on this exact small spot. Locals objected. No one cared. Road is back flooding badly and now we have nowhere to have a green space centrally in the village. Development plan and objections weren’t worth the paper they were written on.

Thank you, you proved my point!

Development plans should be respected, and objections by locals - whoever they are, even Green party members - should be taken seriously and every case treated on its merits, not steamrollered by developers with no interest except the bottom line.
Thankfully in the case of the 6 apartment blocks of up to 5 floors high objected to by Noel Duffy, the High Court defended the local development plan and stopped planning permission.
It's a shame that didn't happen in your case, I'm sorry you weren't listened to. Green spaces are so important - cities that overbuilt in the past are now desperately sticking bits of greenery wherever they can, even putting small gardens in skips, to try to improve air quality etc. We should learn from their experience and build quality as well as quantity.

https://gript.ie/rte-frontline-debate-reax/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGpUR5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHfUM32VJUCPXvWE2XC4mNzNaT074oU7LtkToAM0PQG4KgMEB3sH99w8jqA_aem_NSLtmATe0JcHQ5hpx_VbkA&sfnsn=wa

John Mcquirks synopsis & ratings of the candidates. Agree on most but feel he was lenient on Martin & Harris.

It’s a sad day when we are supposed to take John seriously @Trumped

@Soupfactory I watched the whole debate & actually agree with a lot of his points. That is allowed you know!

I was listening to O'Gorman on the Pat Kenny show yesterday. He wants to lower the voting age to 16. I am a bit baffled as to why this is something someone would think would be a vote winner. I wouldn't think most parents would look at their 16 year old teenagers and think this would be a good idea.
The more cynical side of me looks at it through a GC lens and thinks that his motivation is an attempt to lower the age at which teenagers can be treated as adults. The Greens have been pushing to allow under 16s change their gender for several years now.
I also look at the Lab Party 's desire to get rid of single sex schools with similar GC based suspicion.

🎯

*Labour Party

@Onehorsetown The Greens have been pushing to allow under 16s change their gender for several years now.

I didn't realise that about Greens, I was thinking of voting greens but this might change things. What do you mean about the labour party? Do you mean you suspect their proposal to mix schools is to also facilitate gender self identification?

I am so confused, I don't know what to do and feel very uneducated so I'm trying to research now!

@DublinFemale is that Hutch thing a joke? Surely that can't be true?!

@Dontlletmedownbruce

💯100% true, he has SM, few posters up, styling himself as Tony Gregory who was brilliant as a representative of DC.

Bloody hell nothing would surprise me anymore!

I've had canvassers for a little baby FF politician who can't be blamed for anything as he's very young and a first timer. I said (truthfully) I'd been told he was a nice lad, which delighted one of the canvassers because she is his mammy (she looked about 15 herself). Consultation suggested the person speaking well of him might have been his auntie, but I think someone else said good things to me also.